September 15, 2014

Columbian Moon

A new LPOD contributor, from a new country, is always welcome, so I am pleased to receive Pablo's first images. I like his approach, which combines multiple images into a presentation that would be appropriate for a poster. In a country such as Columbia, which has little tradition for astronomy, posters and presentations such as this may help awaken an awareness of the Moon and universe beyond. Columbia has produced one notable scientist who did in fact study the motions of the Moon, and who has a crater (a floor-fractured one at that) named for him, and one of the rare banknotes featuring a depiction of the Moon. Columbia also has active volcanoes, which tie it to the Moon's past. The most active, and most famous volcano, is Galeras, whose 1993 eruption killed six volcanologists and three tourists; I was on the flank of the volcano at the time of the eruption.